A team that offered hope. . . then, four months later, Hamas attacked Israel

A team that offered hope. . . then, four months later, Hamas attacked Israel. "But a little over four months after Khalaili's interview and the win over Brazil, Hamas attacked Israel.

What happened

Five days later, the team's semi-final against Uruguay was the most-watched thing of the evening on Israeli television, drawing a 23% viewing share. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Israel came second in their group at the U20 World Cup and went on to finish third in the tournamentMatan Segal directed Kick It Out Israel, an anti-discrimination initiative with similar aims but no link to the English organisation of the same name, for almost four years before stepping down a few months ago.

But, whatever the future holds, for a few months, in the summer of 2023, Haim and his team gave Israel something special. Israel, whose senior team have qualified for the World Cup just once, had beaten global powerhouses Brazil in the quarter-finals of the under-20 version of the tournament. "That summer, everybody was watching under-20 football, everybody knew the players," says Rakovsky, who was covering the team for Israeli media outlet Haaretz. In it Khalaili, an Israeli Arab, thanked the viewers back home for staying up late to watch his team win in Argentina.

"That team made real the claim that football can really bring people together – that Muslim players are part of the national team of the Jewish state, representing Israel and creating something better, both for the present and future.

The wider picture

"Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Ofir Haim managed various domestic teams in Israel before becoming head coach of the U19s and U20sFootball has long been the part of Israeli society where communities mix together who may not otherwise meet. The first Arab player to represent Israel's national team was Rifaat Turk in 1976. "Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Israel are aiming to qualify for Euro 2028Israel's aim is to go better than their national team has managed in more than 50 years.

Can the potential of a golden generation of Israel's footballers, in sport and society, be realised? At the final whistle, the commentator covering the match for Israeli television vowed "you will tell of this night to your children, and they will tell it to your grandchildren". Politicians clamoured to congratulate the team. "Everybody in Israel fell in love with these kids. After scoring a stoppage-time winner against Uzbekistan in the last 16, Anan Khalaili had given an interview to Israeli television.

What has been reported

To do so, he used the words 'Am Yisrael' – a Hebrew phrase that means 'People of Israel' and is bound up in Jewish religion, community, culture and history. "That an Arab player used that figure of speech said something about the identity of that team," says Rakovsky. In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza. The United Nations believes the retaliation has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians. , external As the war goes on, can the potential of a golden generation of Israel's footballers, in sport and society, be realised?

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Israel beat Brazil 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the U20 World Cup in 2023Beaten 1-0 by eventual champions Uruguay, Israel finished third at that Under-20 World Cup in 2023. Israel has produced outstanding players in the past. All have now won full caps, but were moulded into a collective, cohesive unit – something that has often been beyond the senior side – by Israel's age-grade coach Ofir Haim. We unite everybody, and I wish the country were as united as this team.

What happens next

"The majority of the Jewish people who arrived in the mandate period [a spell between 1923 and 1948 where the region was run by Britain] emigrated from Europe," says Dr Omer Einav, a historian and author of Defending the Goal, a book on Israel's football history. "Encouraged by the British administrators who ran the region, teams from different communities, and some made up of elements of each, would play against each other. When the modern state of Israel was formed in 1948, much of the Arab population that remained inside its borders continued to identify as or with Palestinians.

They are also an intrinsic part of Israeli football. While they make up 20% of Israel's population, they represent about 35% of those involved in the sport at elite level nationally. In 2018, Bibars Natcho became the first Muslim to captain the team. Natcho's decision not to sing Israel's national anthem, the lyrics of which relate to the Jewish search for a homeland, was condemned by some. , externalFor a short time in the summer of 2023, it seemed as if Haim's under-20 side might offer a watershed moment of unity and co-existence.